color in architecture

Inspired by the beautiful color theme in architecture, I found myself faced with an Austrian artist (as well as architect, but without formal training) called Friedensreich Hundertwasser who decided to declare war on straight lines. His architectural designs reminded me of the Catalan architect Antoni Gaudí in its biomorphic creations. But it was not the use of irregular shapes in the buildings he designed what caught my attention, but the use of a vast array of bright colors, both in facades and interior of buildings. He considered the color an essential part of architectural design.

If you have read my blog before, you may know by now that I am a faithful defender of buildings that harmonize with the environment. And it was perhaps this fact that has led me to become one more of the architects who paint their projects with the colors of nature. This is something I never thought; until today.

Most times, when I start working on a new design, I limit myself to a palette of whites, grays and browns, specially in the facades. Perhaps this was because I had not dared to think “outside the box“. The natural colors and materials are the safe way to harmonize with the environment, and since I am an advocate of this theory, it is obvious that I do not want to be the one who act against it.

Today, after this reflection, I think two of the most important issues in architecture, are color and light. But the first one, I think it is given less importance than necessary, at least from the point of view of architecture (not so from the interior design´s point of view).

Being our natural environment as neutral as it is, the introduction of colored dots is a necessary joy in the journey of life, a breath; it is like a rainbow in the sky led to the land.

When applied in urban settings, the color is capable of providing to a specific sector, a sense of belonging to its inhabitants, which may not happen in the case of areas with more neutral colors. It has been found, by groups like let’s color project, which promote “a worldwide initiative to transform grey spaces with colourful paint. A mission to spread colour all over the world”, that when applying color in disadvantaged neighborhoods, there have been seen improvements in society, such as the reduction of crime rates and the increase of solidarity among its inhabitants, because they are motivated to take better care and protect their environment, since space is no longer anonymous.

Modernism, especially in its beginning, with its great inclination towards the use of natural materials, made us move away from the joy that produce the colors in architecture. This has been changing over time, but I think that, in many cases, the change is not going in the right direction.

As it happens with most emerging artistic trends, there is a need to change whatever was being done, if possible, in its entirety. We are moving from a gray, brown, natural architecture, to an architecture with such vibrant colors that dazzle.

We should not be afraid to use bright colors, which help to change the visual dynamics of the city, but we must be aware of how to use them; the places and the proportions in which we use them, because although color can do a lot for a building and its environment, it can also harm them greatly, if not employed with the necessary urban consciousness.

An example of this is the Thonik Studio building in Amsterdam, designed by MVRDV, which had to change the original color of its facades, because of complaints from locals, who claimed they experienced serious discomfort because of this color.

I’m curious what architects think of the buildings pictured here. I find most of them rather outlandish. The Parts House Pavilion looks like it could be OK and the before shot of the Thonik Studio isn’t too bad but the others strike me as garish. But I’m just an opinionated layperson.

I have to admit that I´m new on this “liking colored facades” thing, hehe.

Before today, I used to say simply: “don´t”, but making this post changed my mind.

I like the Parts House Pavillion too… I found a picture of the interior that blew my mind. I didn´t post it because I was writing only about color in the exterior. The apartment bulding in Madrid is pretty interesting too, but both of the MVRDV projects are just too much for me, even though I like many of their designs.

I´m sure it has… In my oppinion, his paintings are kind of architectural, mainly the ones that belongs in the Cubist movement.
He was, for a while, a teacher of the Bauhaus, (the school of design, art and architecture that started the the well known principle “form follows function”), so he had a connection with architecture there.

Check this link:http://bit.ly/AF2x6
This is Zentrum Paul Klee Bern, a museum designed by Renzo Piano, to feature Paul Klee´s life and work. So I guess he did influence architecture… at least we know for sure Renzo Piano used him for inspiration to desing this museum.
I found this phrase: “The light, lightness and almost organic development in the hilly land are elements of Klee’s poetic that inspired the great Italian architect.”

you pointed out a very interesting topic : color in exterior architecture .

i believe color is an immediate and easy way to transmit emotions ..
and i think the increasing use of colors (made easier by new coloring technics and new materials) is an opening to emotions in architecture and a chance for our towns .
i personally was happy and full of hope for the future when i saw in London the coloured volumes of Central st.Giles Court by Renzo Piano .